IPL 2017: Duckworth-Lewis Method Favours Team Batting Second, Says Stephen Fleming

May 19, 2017 at 3:14 PM

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IPL 2017: Duckworth-Lewis Method Favours Team Batting Second, Says Stephen Fleming

Stephen Fleming, the Head Coach of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017 finalists Rising Pune Supergiant, on Friday has voiced his opinion by saying the IPL Governing Council must revamp the policies regarding the target being revised under Duckworth-Lewis method in Twenty20 competition particularly in rain-truncated matches as it favours team batting second in IPL 2017.

Fleming feels by reducing the wickets following overs in a rain-curtailed match is enough to make the contest even for both the teams.

“With low-scoring games on difficult pitches, whenever the overs are reduced, the team batting second will always have an edge because they stand a far lower chance of being bowled out, so they can stay a lot more relaxed,” Fleming told ToI.

The former New Zealand skipper, who has also been working as a coach for defunct Chennai Super Kings believes revising would be the best option for One-day International format as it proves to be very handy for the team batting second in the Twenty20 format.

“The D/L method is satisfactory for 100 overs, but in a 40-over game, it simply favours the team batting second too much,” Fleming said.

The 44-year-old Christchurch-born left-handed veteran batsman made the statement after rain-hit Eliminator between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders started around 1:00 am on the following day which further saw Gautam Gambhir-led Men in Purple chasing down the revised target of 48.

Moreover, while leading from the front Gambhir scored 25-ball 32 as his innings was laced with two sixes and boundaries respectively.

“The whole scenario just isn’t ideal and definitely needs a bit of tweaking. One of the ideas floating around is to introduce ‘wicket pressure’, so if you have a small chase, then you also have fewer wickets to play with. In effect, that means you only have five wickets, for example, for a six-over chase,” Fleming remarked.

While expressing the doubts over the rain-marred fixtures, the different IPL franchise coaches, players followed by owners including Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir and team coach Jacques Kallis.

“It was truly crazy to see the winning runs hit at 1.30 in the morning.” Kallis said.

The administrators have also spoken about the late night games while putting their suggestions on the table which included a request for ‘reserve day’ while considering the fact of different aspects of the scenarios.

“I felt sorry for Sunrisers. I hope someone takes note of rain-affected matches and comes up with a plan B,” Gambhir was quoted by The Indian Express.

However, IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla in his recent interview to Times of India has stated the board is looking forward look into the options regarding reserve days.

“The late-night finishes are a concern. Shah Rukh Khan, has tweeted about the option of a reserve day. We will weigh all options and the IPL governing council will look into it,” Shukla stated while referring to the possibility of reserve days in the 11th edition of IPL.

After Kolkata Knight Rider bowlers restrict Sunrisers Hyderabad at the total of 128, the chase started only after three hours when groundstaff at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru made a remarkable effort to make field good enough to start the run chase.

“In a situation like Wednesday [May 17] night, even though there has been a small increase in runs required and there’s pressure on the team batting second owing to a reduction in the number of overs, they still have all wickets in hand which means they can play without risk,” concluded.

Australian fast bowler Nathan Coulter-Nile, who has been part of Knight Riders, also gave his opinion while saying one ‘can’t play a game at 2 am’.

Interestingly, in 2014, the IPL regulations had different on an offer when the first Qualifier was postponed at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata between Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab.

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